Bharti Airtel rebounds 7% from intra-day low

The stock moved higher to Rs 361, bouncing back 7% from early morning low of Rs 337 on BSE.

Bharti Airtel  moved higher to Rs 361, bouncing back 7% from intra-day low on BSE, on the back of heavy volumes.

The stock dipped 2.6% to Rs 337 in early morning trade after the telecom major reported a 72% fall in net profits at Rs 373 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, a second consecutive quarterly decline. The company had earned net profits of Rs 1,319 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16.

The mobile operator’s consolidated revenues were down 8.8% year-on-year during the January-March period at Rs 21,935 crore.

“Bharti’s Q4 consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) declined 7% QoQ (better than estimates) since the company managed to rein in costs in both India and Africa despite revenue weakness. India Ebitda declined 7.6% QoQ due to weakness in the mobile segment,” analysts at IIFL Institutional Equities said in result review.

“In Africa, 2.8% QoQ Ebitda growth in US$ terms was strong in a seasonally weak quarter. Consolidated free cash flow (pre one-time gains/losses) was –Rs 3,500 crore. Bharti incurred a marginal forex loss despite Indian rupee appreciation and African currencies remaining stable,” the brokerage firm said in report.

At 11:21 am; the stock was up 3% at Rs 356 on BSE as compared to 0.81% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped more than four-fold with a combined 7.36 million shares changed hands on the BSE and NSE so far.